


incendiary

by wickedhero



Category: Archie Comics, Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-08
Updated: 2017-06-08
Packaged: 2018-11-11 11:11:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11147232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wickedhero/pseuds/wickedhero
Summary: incendiary(adj.): capable of causing fire; tending to inflame the senses❝You're absolutely insufferable sometimes, you know that, Juggiekins?❞❝As are you, Ronnie. As are you.❞In which two aching soul-searchers, through laughter and pain, truly find each other.Wattpad handle:: wickedheroes





	incendiary

**THERE IS A** certain allure to diners that Jughead Jones can't resist, pulling him in for hours at a time. He is fond of the retro booths and pop-art design, the jukeboxes, the pinball machines - anything that reminds him of a timeline he doesn't belong to. He likes to think that he is, in a way, like Pop's diner: old-fashioned and kinda-sorta out of place in Riverdale.

"Hey, Jug." Jughead blinks, watching as the rugged redheaded boy he grew up with slides into the booth seat across from him. He smells of cologne and sweat (and faintly of flowers), but Jughead chooses not to comment.

"Well, you're late," Jughead scoffs lightly, easing down his laptop screen. "Must've been because of the traffic leading here, huh?"

"I walked here though?" Archie furrows his eyebrows, the joke completely going over his head. Classic Andrews.

"Nevermind," Jughead waves his hand, physically dismissing himself. "You wanted to talk to me about something?"

"Yeah, I did, actually." Jughead recognizes the look on Archie's face, and his stomach drops. It's a look of guilt, the same face Archie wore that one summer long ago when he was caught throwing rocks at Reggie's window. "Why don't we order first?"

They put in an order for burgers and shakes, and then they sit there silently. Jughead is a man of patience, but watching Archie squirm and rub his neck in discomfort somehow makes Jughead especially annoyed.

"What's on your mind, man?" Jughead probes, folding his arms and leaning into the tabletop. Since the Grundy incident, Jughead has been thinking that maybe, he didn't know his best friend as well as he liked to believe, and certainly now couldn't read his thoughts.

"I haven't been honest, Jug, about some stuff." Archie finally exhales, pinching the bridge of his nose with downcast eyes. Jughead wonders if this "stuff" has to do with his recent flakiness, the last-minute bailing on their plans and bro dates. "But yeah, a lot of things have been on my mind. And I've been meaning to talk to you about, well, Betty."

Jughead's heart aches the moment he hears her name. "Betty?" he parrots, testing the name. He hasn't said her name in a while, and he starts lose his appetite the moment it leaves his tongue. She was his honey-haired sweetheart, the first girl Jughead loved, and even now, the feelings linger. They don't talk anymore, at least, not the way they used to. He thinks of how midnight whispers and touches devolved into polite smiles and reluctant contact, and for a moment, he feels a sharp tug at his chest. Then, _nothing._

"Yeah, Betty. Listen, it's been awhile since you two... you know," Archie says, pausing so that Jughead could fill in the blank. Jughead shuts his eyes, trying to think about the burgers being grilled in the kitchen instead of the blonde with the bright cerulean eyes. "And it's not in my place to say this, but I think it's time for you to move on."

"It's been four months. I'd like to think I've moved on by now." Jughead clenches his jaw, releasing when he opens his eyes to an apologetic-looking Archie. He sighs in defeat: he is still hopelessly in love with Betty Cooper. "Since when have you taken an interest in my love life, Andrews?"

"Well, you're my best friend," Archie says a little too quickly. He thinks that Jughead doesn't notice that he's wiping his palms on the sleeves of his letterman jacket, but Jughead isn't one to miss out on the little details.

"Was that what you wanted to talk about? Me?" Jughead says slowly, the gears in his head trying to make sense of Archie's fidgeting. Archie is sneaky, sure, but he's a deceptively bad liar. "Or is there something else you wanted to tell me?"

"Yes, I mean, no." Archie takes a deep breath, staring at his hands. "Jughead, I don't have any excuse for this and it's hard for me to tell you this, but Betty and I - we've been seeing each other." The words come out with minimal delicacy, and it takes Jughead a good minute to process this new information.

He pictures an emotionally wounded Betty in Archie's arms, seeking solace and comfort. Betty curling up against Archie's chest, not his own. Archie waking up to the smell of roses and citrus, and a blissfully sleeping Betty. It is one of the things he misses most about her, watching all of her defenses drop as she slipped into a deep slumber. Nothing, to him, is as comforting as Betty Cooper being at peace.

"I'm a shit friend, Jug, and I'm so sorry, I really am." Archie tries to reach out and place his hand on Jughead's arm, but Jughead withdraws. "I've fucked up and broke the bro code, but I think I can be happy with Betty, like seriously happy."

All at once, a montage of Archie and Betty's life together plays itself out in Jughead's wildly imaginative mind, and he can't help but feel deeply betrayed. He inhales sharply, as if the wind has been knocked out of him.

"Please say something. _Please_ ," Archie is pleading now, but Jughead is far gone.

"How long?" It comes out hardly louder than a whisper. Archie almost looks relieved, the color returning to his cheeks.

"We've hung out for the past month. But now, I think-"

"And you didn't tell me," Jughead deadpans.

"Jug, it was too soon. And I didn't think that things would turn out the way they did," Archie tries to justify himself, but to no avail.

"Get out, Archie." Diner chatter begins to die out, and patrons are starting to look over at the corner booth where a beanie-wearing boy and redhead seem to be at odds.

"Jughead please, I'm sorry, I-" Archie trails off, but the damage is done and he knows it. They both know it.

"I said, get out, _Archibald_." Jughead's fists are clenched under the table and it is taking him all of his strength to not sock Archie in the face.

"This is exactly why I didn't tell you earlier." Archie's voice rises. They glare at each other until Archie's eyes soften and it looks like he's about to say something. Jughead is almost ready to forgive him, to eat burgers and quietly hurt and heal like he always does with Archie, but he catches the fragrance of Archie's cologne laced with an all-too familiar flower scent. He comes back to his senses with steely resolution.

"Fuck you," Jughead hisses. If there's one thing he's not, it's a pushover.

"One double patty burger with the works, one cheeseburger deluxe, and two Strawberry shakes." The waiter slowly sets down the platters of food, noticing a shift in the atmosphere. "Is everything okay here, boys?"

"Yeah, it sure is," Archie says sarcastically, rising to get out of his seat. "I'll actually take this to go, thanks."

Jughead watches as Archie follows the waiter to the takeout counter, paper bagging his burger and transferring his shake into a large Dixie cup.

The door chimes at the redhead's exit, and Jughead sinks deeper into his seat. He tugs on his beanie, a habit that usually makes him feel more at ease (this time being the one exception). Lifting the laptop screen, he opens a new document and begins to write.

♛○♛○♛○♛

Most of the evening patrons have filtered out by now and a few straggling bar crawlers remain. For just a moment, Jughead contemplates going back to his trailer, but to be honest, returning to an empty trailer doesn't seem appealing to him. Home, to him, has long been an elusive word, and the closest he's ever felt to being at home was in a booth at Pop's with Betty and Archie.

 _And so, the social tectonics of Riverdale have shifted once again_ , he writes. His thoughts are more lucid at night, and despite the eye-circles that have slowly formed from cups upon cups of coffee and habitual sleeplessness, Jughead considers his transcription of thoughts a worthy return for his sacrifices. _An earthquake of great emotional magnitude strikes, and I am the one casualty._

"Jughead?" Has it become interrupt-Jughead-Jones day? He looks up irritably from his screen to meet the eyes of a certain raven-haired girl standing at the doorway leading to Pop's restrooms.

"Veronica," he says indifferently, not startling when he sees her at this hour, because after Archie's news, nothing seems remotely shocking. A humanoid burger alien could walk in right now, and he wouldn't be fazed.

"I didn't think you'd be here," she says sheepishly, and for a second, the usual cool, collected exterior of Veronica morphs into uncharacteristic embarrassment.

"Well," Jughead says, giving Veronica a solid once-over. That's when he notices her yellow Pop's uniform, complete with a brass clip-on name tag. Admittedly, this comes across to him as a surprise, but he manages to maintain his composure perfectly. "I didn't think you worked here."

"That's a story for another time." She smiles, but there's a barely perceptible sadness in the way she does. He opens his mouth to ask her why, but quickly decides against it. It's none of his business and quite frankly, he doesn't care enough.

"Did you know?" he asks instead. Jughead immediately feels a surge of regret for his impulsively vague question, but he's chosen his path and he can't back out now.

"Pardon?" Veronica frowns.

"About them." Jughead clears his throat, trying again. "Did you know about _them_?"

"Them?" She pauses, and then her eyes darken with realization. "Oh, you mean Archie and Betty?" Veronica presses her lips together before inhaling deeply. "I - yes, I did."

"I see." Jughead can't help but feel like an idiot for being in the dark for so long.

"Call it - I don't know - a debt to Betty, if you will," Veronica says slowly. There is a wistful deliverance to her words, and Jughead can tell that she has given a lot of thought to this. "That girl has given me so many chances. And Jughead, I'm sorry, but it really wasn't in my place to tell you earlier. About them, I mean."

"Yeah." His voice cracks, and he lowers his head, blinking away the moisture forming at his eyes. He isn't one to cry, but when he does, it is heart wrenchingly painful. It is the type of crying that hurts so much he can't even make a noise, the type that makes him want to curl into himself until the sobs subside.

Veronica sits herself down across from him. She doesn't say anything, and they both reflect on the way things have turned out. How, maybe, this is the world's way of restoring order to the way things _should_ be. Betty and Archie are the "girl moves in next door, boy falls in love" archetype: theirs is a story in which neither Veronica nor Jughead have a permanent place. He's starting to think that he's a temporary plot device in their relationship, but alas, he's overcomplicating things again.

"Stay here," Veronica says, getting up from her seat. Jughead's eyes stay trained on his laptop, thinking to himself that he doesn't need Veronica to tell him to stay put. He has no intentions of leaving Pop's anytime soon. She returns with two shakes: strawberry and chocolate, and slides the strawberry one over to Jughead's side of the table. "Cheers."

"Shouldn't you be working?" Jughead raises an eyebrow. He doesn't mean to come off rude, but the night has been long and weary, and he can't be bothered to check his mannerisms.

"There's, like, nobody here right now." Veronica ignores his tone, gesturing to the rest of the diner. "I mean, besides the drinkers, but c'mon, Jughead. You're not one to pass up a free milkshake, are you?" Jughead glances over at the open kitchen area, where Pop is wiping down glassware and watching them discretely. Pop waves hello.

"When did you get so nice?" Jughead can't help but smirk a little.

"Oh, please." Veronica rolls her eyes, but there's a ghost of a smile playing on her lips. "I'd like to think I'm a pretty good person." Jughead wants to protest and disagree for the fun of it, but remembers the strawberry shake sitting in front of him.

"Well, I'm not complaining." He raises his glass to clink it against hers. "Cheers." They both drink in comfortable silence, and Jughead finishes his shake first. Veronica sees this and smiles, before making a move to leave.

"Not staying for the rest?" Jughead says almost hopefully, stopping Veronica in her tracks. She still has half a glass left, and as much as he hates to admit it, her company isn't the worst thing in the world. Any other day, and he would have eagerly passed up on the opportunity to sit in the same booth as her by himself.

Veronica gets up, collects both of their glasses, before shaking her head. "Sorry, Jughead. I should be working, remember?" She manages a smile, referring to his wisecrack from earlier.

"Right." He keeps the disappointment from reaching his voice. It's something he's become proficient in over years of being let down. "See you then, Veronica."

She saunters back to the main counter and Jughead watches her. He watches her in the way he always does with the people he writes about, watches the way her usually perfect posture isn't quite as impeccable tonight, the way she stares off into space when she thinks no one is looking. He wonders what she's thinking about, or maybe _who_ she's thinking about, and decides that he probably knows.

He presses 'Enter' on his laptop and resumes writing, amending his sentence:

_An earthquake of great emotional magnitude strikes, and I̶ ̶a̶m̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶c̶a̶s̶u̶a̶l̶t̶y̶ we are the casualties._

**Author's Note:**

> Hello lovelies, thanks so much for reading! **Something to note: this story will be taking place in the future and is slightly AU (wherein Jason is still dead, but Fred Andrews is not shot, and F.P. Jones isn't in jail but still a man struggling to be a good father).** I wonder why Veronica is working at Pop's, hm... [thinking emoji]
> 
> Please leave a comment/kudos/bookmark/subscribe if you've enjoyed, my dear reader, and I'll see you the next time I update! x
> 
>  **Wattpad handle** :: wickedheroes


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